Saudi woman posts desperate plea to seek asylum in Australia

Saudi woman posts desperate plea to seek asylum in Australia

Dina Ali Lasloom recorded a desperate plea from Manila's international airport where she claimed she was detained by authorities after trying to seek asylum in Australia to escape her Saudi Arabian family. Picture: FacebookSource:Facebook

A Saudi Arabian woman purporting to have been held by authorities in the Philippines en route to seeking asylum in Australia has posted a desperate video message publicising her plight.

The video was posted online on Tuesday accompanied by details of Dina Ali Lasloom’s situation.

According to information shared by asylum seeker advocates, the 24-year-old woman arrived at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday with the intention of continuing on to Sydney to file an asylum claim when she was intercepted by authorities.

In the emotional video believed to have been posted from the airport, the woman claims she is being “held as a criminal”, and that if she is sent back to Saudi Arabia, she will be killed.

“My name is Dina Ali, I’m a Saudi woman who fled Saudi Arabia to Australia to seek asylum,” she begins.

“I stopped in the Philippines ... They look my passport and lock me for 13 hours just because I am a Saudi woman, with the collaboration of Saudi embassy.

“If my family come, they will kill me, if I go back to Saudi Arabia, I will be dead.”

In the clip, which doesn’t show the woman’s face, the woman claims the Philippines and Saudi governments are “violating human rights and international law”.

“If anything happens to me, that’s on Philippines airlines and the Saudi Arabian government,” she said.

The woman’s plea has inspired a social media campaign to have her freed. Supporters have adopted the hashtag #SaveDinaAli.

But reports published since the video began circulating indicate it might be too late.

Human rights campaigner Jasvinder Sanghera last night wrote on Facebook: “Our source informs us she is being returned to Saudi Arabia despite her pleas and the growing calls online for her execution.”

According to Inquirer, the woman was handed over to embassy officials and escorted on a flight back to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Sanghera and others have called on Amnesty International to intervene.

It is not known if Australian authorities were aware of Ms Lasloom’s plan to travel to Australia.

News.com.au has contacted the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The Philippines Embassy has also been contacted.